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Manchester City host Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday in a potentially decisive encounter between the two in this season’s title race. Pep Guardiola’s men trail Mikel Arteta’s side by five points with two games in hand and are on a six-game winning streak in the league while the Gunners have drawn their last three consecutive outings. Win at Etihad Stadium and Arsenal are back in control of the title race and City’s best chance will have passed them by, but losing or even drawing will give the defending champions the edge between now and the end of the campaign. Both sides have tricky games to come, but no match for the remainder of this term will be as influential as this one in terms of potential title impact.
Here’s our predicted lineups and starting XI projections for the crunch clash in Manchester — and while you’re at it, sign up for our new newsletter covering the beautiful game in all its glory, including updates about the most important stories in the sport, here.
Featured Game | Manchester City vs. Arsenal
Manchester City projected lineup
Guardiola does not have too many injury concerns coming into this one, but defender Nathan Ake’s thigh issue will be a concern as it could potentially rule him out. City rotated for the FA Cup semifinal win over Sheffield United and John Stones, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne should all be restored to the home XI. Riyad Mahrez’s superb hat-trick in the 3-0 win over the Blades could earn him a starting berth too. Erling Haaland boasts 32 Premier League goals this season and one more will break the 38-game campaign record while two more could equal Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s 42-game term tallies of 34 goals.
Probable City XI: Ederson; Akanji, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan (c), De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
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Arsenal projected lineup
Star defender William Saliba continues to work on his recovery from a back problem, but the France international will miss out on Wednesday and possibly the remainder of this season. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are also out and on the road to recovery from season-ending knee injuries, but Granit Xhaka could return after illness despite lingering doubts. Expect Fabio Vieira to drop out of the Gunners XI after he started in the 3-3 draw with Southampton while Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus should come up against their former employer. Rob Holding could be the man tasked with stopping the insatiable Haaland and Gabriel Martinelli is one goal away from the record tally of 16 for the most Premier League goals by a Brazilian player in a single season with Roberto Firmino’s 2017-18 total of 15 the number to beat for Samba stars.
Probable Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard (c), Martinelli; Jesus.
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